Learners from across South Africa, who had won a regional leg of the contest, brought their science and technology
projects to Pretoria for judging. Other invited participants came from Zambia,
Swaziland, Ghana, Reunion, Namibia and Hong Kong.
Hundreds of aspirant scientists participated in different categories including
environmental sciences and ecology, agricultural sciences, design, technology, innovation and development, energy, medical sciences, architecture, housing, settlement studies, engineering (mechanical, civil, and industrial), physics, plant sciences, astronomy and space sciences, health care, science and mathematics teaching aids and computer sciences and applications.
There were over 100 winners of bronze and silver medals and 49 gold medal
winners. For 19 learners, their prize was an
all-expenses trip to an international science expo. In the special awards category, four participants won in the fields of energy, health care and agricultural sciences.
Dominating the bronze medallists were 12 paticipants from Northern Gauteng. There were 11 silver medallists from Goldfields and 11 gold medallists from Northern Gauteng.
‘We are proud that so many young people were brave enough and came forward with their projects, that so many of them are interested in science. It is encouraging that there is diversity in the interests of these young scientists,” said Ben Ngubane, Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology at the ceremony.
‘There should be concern as there are not a large number of young people entering the fields of research and development.
Sponsors should continue this kind of commitment and these young scientists should be aware of the fact that they will be doing a disservice to the community if they do not contribute to the public understanding of their work.”
Elbe Becker (16) from St Paul’s College in Namibia, who received a gold medal and won a special award for her project entitled ‘Utilisation of solar energy for distillation and pasteurisation,” said in Namibia there is not much potable water available. Her project is a method of desalinating seawater. ‘Certain particles in water are killed by solar pasteurisation. If this can be done on a large-scale, life will be made a lot easier for people living in rural areas,” said Becker.
Two Grade 11 pupils, Vincent Mbangwa and Thamsanqa Shange from ZamaZulu Secondary School in Petermaritzburg, won a trip to the International Science Fair in Moscow for their project ‘The effectiveness of antibiotics”.
‘We started by talking to patients and observed what was happening. We then took sensitivity tests that enables medical doctors to use certain antibiotics and encourages patients to follow instructions on the medication prescribed,” said Shange.